The Empty Basket Conundrum
by xLostInTheSun
Summary: Penny needs to talk to Sheldon about Leonard, so she decides to pay him a visit in the laundry room on a Saturday night. - Set after The Spoiler Alert Segmentation - This is NOT a romantic Shenny story.


**A/N: I said it already in the summary but I can't stress it enough (don't want anonymous hate thrown to my face): this is not a romantic Shenny story. I am a Shamy shipper to the core and I'm unpartial to the Lenny ship (I'd love to see him with Alex, though, but I don't care either way at this point) but I love Sheldon and Penny's friendship, I truly think it's one of the best out there so I wanted to write a little scene between them. Be warned, this fic contains unashamed Shamy pimping. Now if you're okay with that, I wish you a nice time reading this little scene.**

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Penny walked into the laundry room, empty basket in her hands. Truth be told, she didn't have anything to wash that day but it was Saturday night and she knew Sheldon would be here. And sure enough, he was there, his back to the door as he was emptying his load from the tumble dryer.

"Hey Sheldon."

He turned towards her and nodded his greeting. A frown then appeared on his face at the sight of her empty basket.

"You forgot your dirty clothes."

"Oh no, didn't have any."

"Knowing the general state of your apartment, I honestly doubt that."

Penny didn't have anything to respond to this accusation, because she knew he was right, so she settled for rolling her eyes, bending down to put her basket on the floor.

"What are you doing here, then?"

"I needed to talk to you."

Incomprehension dawned on Sheldon's face.

"But you live right across the hall from me…"

"I didn't want Leonard to know."

Taking his basket of clothes to the table, Sheldon sighed exasperatedly.

"Now, if you're thinking about breaking up with him once more, I just…"

"No, Sheldon. No. I'm not breaking up with him."

"Then how does that concern me?" he asked, folding a first tee-shirt.

"Actually, what I want to talk to you about concerns you much more than a hypothetical break up that would never have anything to do with you."

It was Sheldon's turn to roll his eyes.

"You breaking up with Leonard has everything to do with me. You don't live with him, you're not the one who has to suffer through his emo music and constant wailing at night."

Penny chose not to point out how incredibly selfish this reasoning was and chose to grasp this opportunity to get the conversation where she wanted to get it.

"Yeah, about that… How have you two been doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's been a week since he moved back into your apartment and work has been crazy so I haven't seen him much and I'm just… wondering, you know. How is he coping, and how are things between us?"

Sheldon shot her a dirty look.

"You should have thought about his well-being before stomping on his heart."

Penny felt her breath catch in her throat.

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't understand, Penny. He thinks you guys are in love…"

"We are!"

"… but then you discard him like yesterday's socks."

"Just because I'm not ready to live with him doesn't mean I don't love him. Doesn't he realize that?"

But Sheldon ignored her.

"Anyway, point of order, life has been hell for me. This guy is impossible to live with under normal circumstances, but it's even worse when he's suffering from a heartbreak."

Penny kept silent for a moment. She really didn't get Leonard. _He _was the one who had decided to move in with her without even asking first if she'd be okay with that – well, okay, he had asked, but it had seemed more of a polite request she hadn't had the guts to deny than an actual mature discussion leading to a concerted decision – but according to him, _she _was the villain of the story because she hadn't been ready to live with him.

And she told exactly that to Sheldon, because really, she was hardly at fault.

"Please," he said condescendingly. "You've lived with that dumb ape Kurt for four years before you moved here."

She couldn't refute that, because it was true, and Penny only realized that she was silently crying when a tear went to stain her tee-shirt.

"It's just… I wasn't ready at the time, and look where it lead me? Four years of cheating and heartaches and crying. I'm not ready to go through that again."

"As if Leonard would ever do that."

Penny sighed. Sheldon was intelligent, sure, but he also was always so clueless about so many things that it was sometimes hard to remain patient with him. She knew it wasn't his fault, but there were times when she still wanted to slap some sense into it.

"Well, as a matter of fact, yeah. He did consider cheating on Priya once, didn't he?"

Sheldon shrugged.

"He didn't really love her, though. Not like he loves you."

The conversation was taking a turn that Penny wasn't ready to bear yet, so instead, she just asked:

"And how's Amy?"

She didn't miss the faint blush on Sheldon's cheeks, and for the first time that day, she felt herself smile.

"She is fine."

"Talked to her about your own cohabitation fiasco?"

"Of course not. Everything has been said."

"Are you sure about this?"

Sheldon stopped folding his seventh tee-shirt and cleared his throat.

"Well… yes. I wasn't comfortable living with her, and it's okay."

"But you're used to have a roommate. How would living with Amy be different?"

Penny knew the answer. She'd known it even before Sheldon, because this man was an open book. He was her best friend, after all, and no matter how annoying she found him at times. But she was curious as to see if he'd ever admit it, either to himself or even out loud.

"Because I don't want Amy to be my roommate. When I live with her, I want it to be because we are a couple. And I'm not quite there yet."

Penny suddenly felt an overwhelming rush of love for Sheldon. She knew she loved him in spite of everything, but it was the second time in less than two weeks that this man everyone refers to as a robot had opened up to her, and she was touched beyond words. She didn't know how Amy had done it, but somehow, she had gotten him out of his shell, and the result was beautiful.

Resisting the urge to hug him, she simply said:

"You really are quite fond of Amy, aren't you?"

"Of course. She's the one for me."

And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the moment ended and Sheldon went back to his usual cold demeanor.

"Anyway, I have to go now. There's only so much pointless conversation one Homo Novus can take before losing it."

Shaking her head, Penny said:

"I'll walk up the stairs with you."

"Don't forget your basket."

"Oh right."

She picked it up from the floor and exited the laundry room behind Sheldon.

"Why did you even bring a basket when you knew you wouldn't be doing your laundry?"

"Well, someone did tell me once that a good lie relies on the details. If I wanted to pretend to be doing laundry, I had to get a basket, didn't I?"

Sheldon stopped walking for a few seconds and looked at her intently, as if trying to figure her out.

"Well", he finally said, "Maybe there is hope for you, after all."

Penny didn't stop smiling all the way to the fourth floor.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading until the end. Any feedback is welcome, as long as it's not along the lines of "This truly is awful. Everything can be improved. Oh yeah, Amy should have her face ripped off by her monkey. :) Have a nice day." (I did get this review this morning for another story. DO. NOT. WANT.)**


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